The record turnout helped boost proceeds to an all-time high of $400,000.

“It’s amazing how far we have come,” observed event chair Tamra Ward. Ward, president and chief executive officer of Colorado Concern, will celebrate her first year as a breast cancer survivor at the end of December.

In 1883, when steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie opened his first library in his hometown of Dunfermline, Scotland, he had the biblical phrase “Let there be light” inscribed on the entrance instead of his name.

Wednesday night the historic Carnegie Library in the northwest corner of Denver’s Civic Center Park will be illuminated for LIGHT, a multi-sensory extravaganza celebrating its grand re-opening as a cultural center and venue for special event rentals, temporary exhibitions and community gatherings. The library’s name was changed to the McNichols Building in 1999.

The Nathan Yip Foundation Associate Board, in cooperation with Flobots.org, is staging the first Back to School Band Night, starring Bop Skizzum, on Friday at Stoney’s Bar and Grill, 1111 Lincoln St., Denver. It starts at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are $40 for VIP admittance, $20 for general admission and $10 for designated drivers. They can be purchased online.

The Nathan Yip Foundation Associate Board was formed last year by a group of former Kent Denver classmates of Nathan Yip, who lost his life in an automobile accident when he was 19. His parents, Linda and Jimmy Yip, started the foundation in 2002 and since that time, it has raised the money to build seven schools and support two orphanages in China. It also provides year-round support for an orphanage dormitory in Mexico, has donated funds to Colorado Heritage Camps, Colorado UpLIFT’s My Book Foundation, the Asian Pacific Development Center, Escuela Guadalupe and has done work in Africa.

Money raised from the Back to School Band Night will be used to support vulnerable youth and educational projects in Colorado. “We felt it was important to get involved in this foundation named for our good friend Nathan Yip,” says the associate board’s chairman, Keith Bell.

“It’s been 10 years since Nate died, and his spirit and soul have remained with all of us and we want to help make a difference in our community in Nathan’s honor.” Bell was instrumental in starting the associate board with another of Nate’s friends, Alan Frosh, the chair-elect.

“We want this to become a Denver tradition,” Frosh says. “A back-to-school tribute for our friend Nate that will benefit schools and education in Colorado.”

Sept. 13

* The 67 teenagers who will be debutantes and Young Men of Distinction at the 2013 Le Bal de Ballet will be introduced at a reception held at Cherry Hills Country Club. Le Bal de Ballet, put on by Denver Ballet Guild as a benefit for nonprofit dance organizations in the metro Denver area, will be held on June 8. Debbie Raeder is the chairwoman.

* Denver chapter of The Links, Inc. is hosting a theater night fundraiser at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Members and their guests will gather at 6:30 p.m. for a reception and dress rehearsal of August Wilson’s “Fences.” President Wanda Pate Jones says that the money raised will go to the chapter’s Stepping Into The Future program at Hallett Fundamental Academy, which is part of the Denver Public Schools. For tickets, visit linksdenver.org

* Plans for the 2012 Pink Tie Affair, benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure, will be announced at a reception held at Don and Arlene Johnson’s home in Cherry Hills Village. The gala chaired by Gayle Novak and Arlene Johnson will be Oct. 27 at the Sheraton Denver Downtown.

Sept. 14

The Brooklyn-based band Pistolera makes its Denver debut at Rojo Cancion, a reception, concert and after-party benefiting Museo de las Americas. Festivities are at Su Teatro, 721 Santa Fe Drive, and begin with cocktails and a silent auction at 5 p.m. The concert is at 7:30 and the after-party with tequila pistol shooters and deejay music begins at 9:30. Denver’s first lady, Mary Louise Lee, is the honorary chairman. Tickets are $25 in advance, with an additional fee for those attending the after-party. Call 303-571-4401.

Sept. 16

The Gold Hill Gold Rush runs from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. along historic Gold Hill’s Main Street. There will be bake and rummage sales and an arts and crafts fair. For additional information, visit goldhilltown.com

Sept. 19

Fill A Plate for Hunger is a small plates and passed appetizers party that benefits We Don’t Waste. It begins at 6:30 p.m. at Hudson Gardens and is presented by Larimer Square and the Colorado Caterer’s Association, according to We Don’t Waste founder and director Arlan Preblud. Learn more about it by visiting larimersquare.com/news/fillaplate/ or buy a ticket through blacktie-colorado.com/rsvp

* Academy Award-winning actress Geena Davis is the speaker for a luncheon benefiting the Women’s Foundation of Colorado. It begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Colorado Convention Center. Tickets can be purchased online.

* Denver Children’s Home marks its 136th year by hosting a dinner at the Sherman Street Event Center. Put Your Hats On To Take Your Hats Off for Denver Children’s Home is the theme for the $150-a-ticket affair that begins at 6 p.m. Call Lindsay Leuthold, 720-881-3366.

Sept. 23

The third annual Chelsea’s Epilepsy Walk to promote Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) takes place in Littleton’s Clement Park. Learn more about this benefit by visiting the Chelsea Hutchison Foundation website.

Sept. 24

It’s a busy day for Cancer League of Colorado. A fundraising golf tournament, presented by Liberty Mutual, begins at 10 a.m. at Glenmoor Country Club; a membership luncheon, where research grants will be announced, is at 11:30 a.m. at Colorado Golf Club in Parker. Tournament reservations, $275 per player, can be made with John Snow, 303-534-4317; lunch reservations can be made online.

A free, family-oriented festival will be held simultaneously in the neighboring Belleview Park.

Festival of the Bastardino is presented by the City of Englewood and Freedom Service Dogs and will include food, shopping, pet adoptions, games and demonstrations by both the Buckley Air Force Base K-9 Police Unit and the Rocky Mountain Dock Dogs.

The young professionals kickoff for Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s 2010 Pink Tie Affair may have happened on a Broncos Sunday, but attendance didn’t suffer because the big-screen TVs at Shanahan’s Steakhouse were tuned to the game and guests didn’t miss a play.

Alexis Hart, Lauren Cannon Davis and Cora Sexton coordinated the get-together hosted by gala chair Sharon Magness Blake. In addition to watching the game, guests also were treated to a Neiman Marcus fashion show and samplings from the Shanahan’s menu.

The Pink Tie Affair takes place Saturday at the Sheraton Denver Downtown and includes silent and live auctions, casino games and dancing to Big Bang. The chance to travel with the Broncos to their Arizona game in December is among the items up for bid, along with a custom-made piece of jewelry from Hyde Park, a trip to Las Vegas and a round of golf at the Sanctuary.